Deadly Apparel Factory Inferno in Bangladesh Takes no Fewer than 16 Fatalities
No fewer than 16 individuals have lost their lives after a huge fire broke out at a clothing factory in Bangladesh, with authorities cautioning that the fatality count could increase.
16 bodies have been recovered but were charred impossible to identify, the firefighters reported.
Grief-stricken relatives converged outside the multi-story factory in Dhaka's Mirpur area on Tuesday in search of their loved ones still missing.
The fire, which broke out at the factory around lunchtime, was extinguished after several hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse kept burning, emergency services said.
Until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) that day, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been completely doused, media reports indicated.
Fire department authorities have not established which of the two buildings was the origin point.
Per bystanders, the chemical warehouse contained industrial bleaches, plastic materials and industrial peroxide, all of which can worsen fires. Polymer products also emits toxic fumes when burned.
Law enforcement and armed forces are still attempting to find the owners of the factory and the warehouse, emergency services head the fire service official informed journalists.
An investigation on whether the warehouse was running according to regulations is also ongoing, he mentioned.
Crying family members waited outside the fire-damaged buildings, many of them grasping photographs of their missing relatives.
Included in the crowd is a man looking frantically for his daughter, Farzana Akhter.
"When I learned of the fire, I came running. But I still haven't found her... I just want my child back," he stated to news media.
The catastrophic occurrence has once again underscored the security issues affecting Bangladesh's garment industry, which provides jobs for millions of workers and is a major provider of foreign revenue for the nation.
